Scotland and the summer tour!

First topic message reminder :

Games:

Saturday 7 June:
United States of America v Scotland
BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston, Texas

Saturday 14 June:
Canada v Scotland
BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

Saturday 21 June:
Argentina v Scotland
Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba

Saturday 28 June:
South Africa v Scotland
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

***
Now the 6 nations are over there will be major changes for Scotland between now and the next international.
Vern Cotter will be the head coach for the next test with scott Johnson moving to director of rugby. Unclear yet if Cotter will bring in his own coaching team or whether he will inherit the current crop.

The 6 nations has been a disaster for Scotland but I still believe Scotland has some very good players and a lot of the problems in the 6 nations stem from poor coaching, tactics, very bad selection and man management. Glasgow regularly beat the top Rambo teams, Edinburgh can as well and a lot of the exile players are playing at the very top teams in England and France and winning week in week out but for some reason when they pull on the blue jersey something just isn't there.
This will all change when Cotter arrives. Speaking to Chris Paterson and al kellock a few weeks ago they can't wait for cotter to arrive as they say his coaching style and manner is that of a modern day Jim Telfer and they believe exactly what this squad need.

From a playing point of view there are a few players that should be dropped and not selected for the summer tour. For me they are Ryan Wilson, Tim Swinson, Greig Laidlaw.
Wilson is good at number 8 for Glasgow but is not a 6 at international level. We have 3 far better 6's available yet none were picked. Would Wilson get in the team at 8? For me, nope. Denton, Beattie are far better options and I would say Ali Hogg is also far better than wilson. Why was he picked? Because Johnson thought he was a good "kid". It's not wilson a fault he was picked out of position but there are far better options.
Tim Swinson was very poor compared to his form on last years summer tour. He didn't seem to have the same grunt or energy and was ver ineffective. Again there are other options at lock like Gilchrist who has improved a lot this season and has a harder edge about him now and also johnnycake gray.
Greig Laidlaw was put in the autumn tests and even worse in the 6 nations. His decision making was poor, his service was extremely slow. He offers no break or snipe at all and his main attribute his goal kicking has been poor. Custer looks far sharper, when he has played and deserves a shot. He also has very good leadership qualities. Grayson Hart is also in top form and deserves a chance on recent form. Quick pass, physical and knows the way to the line.

The Backrow was the biggest concern during the 6 nations, it was unbalanced and very off pace. The back row needs balance and a good back row will have 3 players with different qualities, a scavenger who makes a nuisance of himself and tackles his heart out. A hard worker who will do the unseen stuff at the breakdown and then a big athletic ball carrier who will run all day making the hard yards. Scotland have these options but went for three players who were all very similar. It didn't work and must be changed.

The summer tour we play Canada, USA, Argentina and South Africa. The first two teams we "should" beat comfortably the other two will be tough and physical. They will probably take a squad of between 32 and 35.
I'd go with 6 props
Ryan grant
Ali Dickinson
Jon welsh but has to move back to loose head where he is far more destructive.
Euan murray
Geoff cross
Moray low not great during 6 nations but would like to see what difference cotter can make.

Squad

North America

LH - Allan, Reid, Traynor
H - Bryce, Lawson, McArthur
TH - Cross, Low
SR - Gilchrist, Gray, Hamilton, Low
6/8 - Beattie, Brown, Strokosh
7 - Cowan

SH - Hart, Laidlaw
SO - Heathcoat, Russell
IC - Taylor
OC -Bennett
W - Evans, Lamont, Maitland, Visser
FB - Hogg

Argentina / SA

LH - Dickinson, Reid
H - Bryce, Ford, McArthur
TH - Cross, Low, Welsh
SR - Gilchrist, Gray, Swinson
6/8 - Denton, Harley,
7 - Fusaro

SH - Hart, Pyrgos
SO - Jackson, Weir
IC - Horne
OC - ?
W - Fife, Maitland, Seymour
FB - Hogg, Murchie

Preditction time. Hogg to get a 4 week ban (not 4international games, 4 weeks)

I'm with you Radge, and I know FES is too.

He's not really international quality, but would do a job if needed to.

EWT Spoons wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:The BBC says today, in London

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26622460

You mean that the Scotsman has inaccuracies!  

It is a rare occurrence I know, but everyone has off days!

With that said, the BBC is hardly the most trust worthy source when it comes to sport in Scotland

Fixed that for you, Spoons - already having defend themselves for blatant bias on several fronts

RDW_Scotland wrote:True, very true.

I do appreciate how BBC 'sport' Scotland updates on the news give 5 minutes talking about a divison 3 football team's striker missing a game due to his dog dying but Edinburgh and Glasgow seem to be an after thought.

What breed of dog was it?   

RDW_Scotland wrote:I'm with you Radge, and I know FES is too.

He's not really international quality, but would do a job if needed to.

Indeed, pretty sure he's RDW's cousin from his loving remarks

Behind Hogg, Tonks, Murchie, GC's slightly racist uncle Dougie, Tom Brown, etc.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:True, very true.

I do appreciate how BBC 'sport' Scotland updates on the news give 5 minutes talking about a divison 3 football team's striker missing a game due to his dog dying but Edinburgh and Glasgow seem to be an after thought.

What breed of dog was it?   

A cross between a bull dog and a shih tzu.

I do not think he will get a lengthy ban, but his elbows and knees in the try scorer may be taken into account - which could show intent

I actually think Hogg needs to have a think about himself - he has not covered himself in glory and I have always felt that he is a Lee Burne type character, with a bubbling undercurrent of mean threatening to boil over

He was actually quite ineffectual this 6 nations - so I feel he still needs to develop some aspects - I would have almost all the other full backs over him just now on form

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:I'm with you Radge, and I know FES is too.

He's not really international quality, but would do a job if needed to.

Indeed, pretty sure he's RDW's cousin from his loving remarks

Behind Hogg, Tonks, Murchie, GC's slightly racist uncle Dougie, Tom Brown, etc.

Think it's fair to say he was a Hogg injury away from being Scotland's fullback this 6N.

You know I'm not saying he is a genuine international quality 15, but he's another example of an Edinburgh player being completely worthless in the eyes of the great unwashed. He has been very good for Edinburgh this year.

[quote="RDW_Scotland"][quote="AsLongAsBut100ofUs"]

RDW_Scotland wrote: He has been very good for Edinburgh this year.

There you have it: a perfect definition of, "Damned with faint praise."  

Fair play to Cuthbert, he's been doing well for Edinburgh recently. Had Hogg been injured he'd have been in line for a cap.

I can't see the injury list going in Cuthberts favour again though. In the pecking order he is still far down:

Hogg
Maitland
Murchie
Tonks
Cuthbert

tigertattie wrote:Fair play to Cuthbert, he's been doing well for Edinburgh recently.  Had Hogg been injured he'd have been in line for a cap.  

I can't see the injury list going in Cuthberts favour again though.  In the pecking order he is still far down:

Hogg
Maitland
Murchie
Tonks
Cuthbert

I think we're all saying the same thing, and I agree with that list. With three of the first four names injured, and the other suspended, that leaves Jack Cuthbert.

At 15 he's a solid option. Good under the high ball, makes his tackles and runs the ball back hard. He's not a great footballer and isn't particularly quick, and for that reason he's not at all cut out to play wing (he himself has admitted that he much prefers 15), but take away the first four and he's rightly next in line.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Fair play to Cuthbert, he's been doing well for Edinburgh recently.  Had Hogg been injured he'd have been in line for a cap.  

I can't see the injury list going in Cuthberts favour again though.  In the pecking order he is still far down:

Hogg
Maitland
Murchie
Tonks
Cuthbert

I think we're all saying the same thing, and I agree with that list. With three of the first four names injured, and the other suspended, that leaves Jack Cuthbert.

At 15 he's a solid option. Good under the high ball, makes his tackles and runs the ball back hard. He's not a great footballer and isn't particularly quick, and for that reason he's not at all cut out to play wing (he himself has admitted that he much prefers 15), but take away the first four and he's rightly next in line.

Remember as well Steve MacColl from Leeds Carnegie was added to the autumn test training sqaud as well. Still surprised he isn't playing in the Aviva, named as best full back in the championship the last couple seasons and could easily step up the level.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Fair play to Cuthbert, he's been doing well for Edinburgh recently.  Had Hogg been injured he'd have been in line for a cap.  

I can't see the injury list going in Cuthberts favour again though.  In the pecking order he is still far down:

Hogg
Maitland
Murchie
Tonks
Cuthbert

I think we're all saying the same thing, and I agree with that list. With three of the first four names injured, and the other suspended, that leaves Jack Cuthbert.

At 15 he's a solid option. Good under the high ball, makes his tackles and runs the ball back hard. He's not a great footballer and isn't particularly quick, and for that reason he's not at all cut out to play wing (he himself has admitted that he much prefers 15), but take away the first four and he's rightly next in line.

He's not even remotely international standard and would be ruthlessly exposed at that level by any half decent side

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Fair play to Cuthbert, he's been doing well for Edinburgh recently.  Had Hogg been injured he'd have been in line for a cap.  

I can't see the injury list going in Cuthberts favour again though.  In the pecking order he is still far down:

Hogg
Maitland
Murchie
Tonks
Cuthbert

I think we're all saying the same thing, and I agree with that list. With three of the first four names injured, and the other suspended, that leaves Jack Cuthbert.

At 15 he's a solid option. Good under the high ball, makes his tackles and runs the ball back hard. He's not a great footballer and isn't particularly quick, and for that reason he's not at all cut out to play wing (he himself has admitted that he much prefers 15), but take away the first four and he's rightly next in line.

He's not even remotely international standard and would be ruthlessly exposed at that level by any half decent side

I think I would rather have Hornee Furra Linee, at least he hits the line with real pace. Even if he's not as fast as Angela.

From Bigson's Facebook page,
Can't be good for the poor lad's confidence. Turns up and they get him sprinting against the fastest player at the club...
Will Western Isles ever live it down?

If Welsh needed a 40m head start, what sort of head start would S Lamont require? 30m?

funnyExiledScot wrote:If Welsh needed a 40m head start, what sort of head start would S Lamont require? 30m?

and people call Cuthbert slow....

Really don't understand people who write off 22 year olds after a handful of caps.

reallybored wrote:Really don't understand people who write off 22 year olds after a handful of caps.  

Who are you talking about?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Fair play to Cuthbert, he's been doing well for Edinburgh recently.  Had Hogg been injured he'd have been in line for a cap.  

I can't see the injury list going in Cuthberts favour again though.  In the pecking order he is still far down:

Hogg
Maitland
Murchie
Tonks
Cuthbert

I think we're all saying the same thing, and I agree with that list. With three of the first four names injured, and the other suspended, that leaves Jack Cuthbert.

At 15 he's a solid option. Good under the high ball, makes his tackles and runs the ball back hard. He's not a great footballer and isn't particularly quick, and for that reason he's not at all cut out to play wing (he himself has admitted that he much prefers 15), but take away the first four and he's rightly next in line.

He's not even remotely international standard and would be ruthlessly exposed at that level by any half decent side

Yeah but if Johnson had taken off a froward on Saturday, then at least we would have known for sure.

That was criminal!

Steve McColl would be a good signing for Edinburgh if Tonks is a permanent move to FH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55xjkvYEDEA

Still think Tom Brown deserves more opportunities.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/warren-gatland-reveals-plan-wales-6852064

Basically Gatland is thinking of having a probable vs possible match because he thinks it's possible no welsh regions will make the play-offs.

Now I don't know if we can do this with the exiles outside the international window. But if we could, even a 60 min, 30 min half game, would be great to see and for Vern Cotter.

Grant, Lawson, Cross, Gray, Hamilton, Wilson, Brown, Denton, Laidlaw, Weir, Seymour, Scott, Dunbar, Evans, Hogg

Dickinson, MacArthur, Welsh, J Gray, Gilchrist, Barclay, Rennie, Eddie, Hart, Tonks/Russell, Fife, Vernon, Bennett, Brown, Murchie/Cuthbert

* Only non-injured players atm

I've been quite impressed with Brown on the wing to be honest, he's done a decent job there. Direct runner with good pace. I'll be interesting to see how he deals with Gilroy tomorrow - there's a real challenge.

On Cuthbert, how good he is probably isn't relevant. If you have your first 4 fullbacks out injured, and he's 5th choice, then he plays. We can spit and moan all we like, but when you have that many injuries in one position then you're always going to end up with someone who isn't Christian Cullen (or even GC's Uncle).

To be honest the 1872 Cup is pretty much Probables vs Possibles (or under Bradley, Highly Unlikelies).

funnyExiledScot wrote:To be honest the 1872 Cup is pretty much Probables vs Possibles (or under Bradley, Highly Unlikelies).

  

It seems we have a lot of talent out wide at the moment.

Big problem is the front row. We really need a decent tighthead. Cross is the man in possesion but for reasons unknown Solomons doesn't rate him.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:To be honest the 1872 Cup is pretty much Probables vs Possibles (or under Bradley, Highly Unlikelies).

  

It seems we have a lot of talent out wide at the moment.

Big problem is the front row. We really need a decent tighthead. Cross is the man in possesion but for reasons unknown Solomons doesn't rate him.

Euan Murray is still our best TH, the pressure really went on to the Welsh scrum when he came on and they quickly had to call for the cavalry. Cross had been doing ok and holding his own, but he did not pressure them the way Murray did. Cross is a good back up though, which you will always need with props, it is a highly attritional position. It gets a bit thinner on the ground after that, with Low never really stepping up to the plate. It remains to be seen whether Cussack is ever going to be fit enough again and I suppose we have Nel and some of the other Edinburgh imports on the horizon as well. The future is not so bleak, but I would like to see Murray stay away from any BBQ's over the summer and would be very happy if he moved back up to Glasgow.

Bit off topic, but saw this in the Scotsman this morning.  Now for full disclosure I think Ford is a good player and on his day he can be very good.  However this concerns me slightly:

Ford wrote:Ford will start for Edinburgh tonight against Ulster and is determined to use the match as a launchpad in his quest to recover the Scotland No 2 jersey, which he lost to Scott Lawson after two poor performances against Ireland and England at the start of the Six Nations.

“It was a fair call. I wasn’t playing particularly well and that’s what happens,” he reflected.

“I don’t know why I couldn’t get my form going. It could be a lot of factors. I’ve not really thought about it too much. I think the way Edinburgh plays suits my style,” he added

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but if you acknowledge you're not playing well, thinking about why you're not playing well and then doing something about it would surely be the sensible approach!

I'm not reading much into it - Ross Ford isn't renowned as being the brightest, so thinking isn't his strong point!

Where he is right though is that the Edinburgh style is definitely suiting him. Not only the direct physical approach, but our lineout is a lot simpler than the Scotland one.

Did we not have one of the best lineouts in the HK this year?

Could someone not get him a pop up book of "how to play well at hooker" or something similar then. Maybe there is a gap in the market for a 'hooking for dummies' book.

He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but if he's paid a fair wedge to do something well and if he's having a total mare then could someone not sit him down and talk to him about what happened to his form for Scotland.

I agree though that his game is probably suited to the Edinburgh approach and our lineout has been pretty reliable.

I'm going to give Ford, and all the Scottish players, the benefit of the doubt and let them see what they can do under Cotter.

Rab C Johnson seems to have destroyed confidence and morale so players like Ford who have played reasonably well for their clubs but not their country may benefit from not having to deal with him now.

Removing him two minutes into the second half against [insert name of country, can't remember as I have now erased the 6Ns from my memory banks] won't exactly have helped

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Removing him two minutes into the second half against [insert name of country, can't remember as I have now erased the 6Ns from my memory banks] won't exactly have helped

That was the England game, he should never have came out for the second half.

That was akin to feeding him to the lions.

That was dire man management from Scott Johnson. Most of us questionned the selection of Ford in the first place, as he really struggled against Ireland, but to bring him on after a torrid first 40 only to drag him off 2 minutes into the 2nd half, well that's just completely incompetent.

At the Napier lecture the other day there was so much chat about fixing Scottish rugby from the bottom up, but in my view so much more can be done "top down". No other half decent rugby nation would have allowed Scott Johnson two years with its 1st XV, not after the debacle with Wales, and yet in the key years leading to the World Cup we have further slipped behind the rest. He's done so little right as Scotland coach I find myself getting angrier and angrier. Waiting for Cotter may well be worth it, but could we not have done better in the interim??

The only thing SJ has on Matt Williams is that SJ appears to be a pretty decent bloke. But I don't think being a decent bloke would be top of my list of criteria for Scotland coach.

Hadden and Robinson had some luck in some respects. They faced an England in turmoil under Robinson, Ashton and Johnson, France under the mighty Marc Lievremont, a conservative Ireland under Kidney and Wales under Gareth Jenkins.

The current 6 Nations coaches, Saint-Andre excluded, are frightening competent. Lancaster, Gatland and Schmidt are each formidable, and for Scotland to succeed, with our comparatively meagre resources, we need an equally good coach. Hurry up Vern Cotter, your adopted country need you!!

Can't wait for Cotter to arrive and turn Murrayfield into the Scottish version of the stade Marcel Michelin! 70+ home games in a row unbeaten? Yes please! (anything less and I'll be disappointed...   )

I honestly feel sorry for the man, it's now in the press that scotland should be dropped to a 2nd tier competition with italy and so much is being placed on his shoulders. Hope his halo stays shiny for a while.

It's a double edged sword. Expectations are high, but only because we have talented players and Scott Johnson is completely useless. I'm now confident a dream team of ASBO and GC could run this Scotland team better - albeit the XV would be a combination of Glasgow with a few U20 kids from Ayr.

Cotter has the track record and the pedigree, in stark contrast to Scott Johnson. For that alone he brings more optimism that the appointment of any other coach in the last decade.

Re the Ford decision I'm just thinking that no coach can be THAT incompetent surely. Maybe the idea was to lure England into a sense of security with no personnel changes then swap the hooker at the first pause to mess with them and Ford was informed of this before? Something likethat? I mean I've seen Johnson talk so just performing speech motor functions means he can't be that dumb??

funnyExiledScot wrote:It's a double edged sword. Expectations are high, but only because we have talented players and Scott Johnson is completely useless. I'm now confident a dream team of ASBO and GC could run this Scotland team better - albeit the XV would be a combination of Glasgow with a few U20 kids from Ayr.

First sensible thing you've posted in months. 

Fairly undeniable that a Scotland squad chosen by votes from the 606ers would have done a fecking sight better this 6 Nations than the shower that SJ drew out of his selector's tombola.

When does Cotter come in…is his first salvo going to be a summer tour to SA?  

That said siege mentality may work well for the Scots, they have done okay on tours before, better than at home even

Nice piece from Morrision in the Hootsmon about Cotter:

Iain Morrison: Vern Cotter can galvanise Scotland
Sunday 23rd March 2014

IT WAS back in 1998 that Welsh rugby had an epiphany of sorts, their very own Damascene moment. It is worth reminding ourselves of this in light of last weekend. The event occurred in Pretoria’s wonderful old Loftus Versfeld stadium.

Professionalism was in its infancy and Wales were bush-whacked by the Springboks who ran out 96-13 winners. It was an utter humiliation for a nation that has always seen itself amongst the world’s elite, stymied only by fate, blind referees and cheating Kiwi locks.

It proved a turning point for Wales, who hired Graham Henry and drew a line in the sand. Enough. Within 12 months they had their revenge, posting a 29-19 victory over South Africa in Cardiff, surely one of the greatest turnarounds in sporting history.

Scotland’s miserable 51-3 defeat by Wales last Saturday won’t be wasted if the experience is used to galvanise the SRU into making some of the changes that are badly needed. The Scots too have their very own Kiwi coach arriving this summer in the robust shape of Anthony Vernon Cotter and, whatever else you may say about Scott Johnson, the SRU’s director of rugby picked a good ’un in the Clermont Auvergne coach.

Cotter’s appointment was endorsed by Joe Schmidt of Ireland, the Six Nations championship-winning coach and a former Clermont colleague. He had this to say: “I think Vern will clarify a few things for the Scottish players, like how scary he is as opposed to the opposition!”

Of course Cotter is only human, he can’t conjure up world-class players from Highland mist. What the Kiwi can do is cajole this group of players into fulfilling their potential, or something close to it, which is not a claim anyone has made on behalf of the man he replaces.

Sadly Scotland won’t win next year’s World Cup (it is a goal, if you recall), but they have a realistic chance of qualifying from their group by beating Samoa and making the knockout stages. The islanders are a tough nut to crack but the Scots would prefer to clash heads with them rather than England or Ireland, two other second-tier countries they could have been drawn against. Scotland lost to Samoa in South Africa last summer, for the first time ever, but beat them in Apia in 2012. It will be a close game but this Scotland team is much better than they have shown in recent weeks and the XV that Cotter picks for that crunch World Cup fixture will bear little relation to the one that got its backside kicked from one end of the Millennium Stadium to the other – perhaps less than half will survive.

The back three should be plucked from Stuart Hogg, Sean Lamont, Sean Maitland and Tim Visser, the latter pair missing almost the entire Six Nations due to injury. The midfield duo of Matt Scott and Alex Dunbar have the potential to be the equal of anything in Europe. Scott came into the Six Nations one match late and hopelessly undercooked on account of the hand he broke against Japan in November so imagine just what fireworks the pair might produce when they are both fully fit.

Ryan Grant follows a long line of mobile, athletic and skilful Scottish props (Hugh McLeod, David Sole, Tom Smith) and on the opposite side of the scrum WP Nel will ensure that Euan Murray is at the top of his game, exactly the boot in the backside that the veteran Scot needs.

At his best Richie Gray is world class, even if he has struggled occasionally to reach those heights in recent months. One insider insisted that his gym numbers were well down since joining Castres: he has effectively gone from pulling up trees to picking daisies. Am I alone in suspecting that the big fella might have been better served by staying put at Glasgow?

Leave aside Richie and concentrate on “little” Jonny Gray. He came off the bench for the final 11 minutes of the Calcutta Cup game and was never seen thereafter. Gray Jnr has every chance of being in Cotter’s World Cup team, possibly playing alongside his brother. The competition for a second row place remains healthy with Jim Hamilton, Tim Swinson and Grant Gilchrist all in the mix.

South African Josh Strauss, who qualifies for Scotland just in time, will give Cotter options in the third row of the scrum, as will the return of Ross Rennie and John Barclay, who are refurbishing their reputations in England and Wales respectively.

Admittedly that still leaves Scotland short of a Test-class ten but someone – Duncan Weir, Greig Tonks, Tom Heathcote, Finn Russell or even Greig Laidlaw – will put their hand up. Laidlaw’s cause will be helped if he is playing stand-off on a weekly basis for Gloucester, Weir’s by getting regular starts for Glasgow. If Cotter can sort out the half-backs, Scotland will boast its best back line they’ve had this millennium.

Two people are tasked with dragging Scottish rugby out of the mire. Cotter will help determine Scotland’s results for the next few years but, if he does what he is tasked to do, Johnson can help Scotland’s results for the next decade and then some. The Aussie has to focus on his day job and give up any thoughts of “helping” coach the national team, even presuming Cotter wants him hanging around. Johnson’s record as head coach has been one of dismal under-achievement.

The Australian needs to focus on getting more competition at youth level and even here the news is not all doom and gloom because the private school sector has undergone a quiet revolution over the last few years with a long list of impressive signings.

Heriot’s coach and one-time Edinburgh assistant Phil Smith is now director of rugby at Glasgow Academy, where Peter Wright is the hands-on coach. Former Edinburgh professional Andrew Easson is helping Heriot’s, Gloucester stalwart Don Caskie has the reins at Dollar Academy, former Borders coach Steve Bates is at Fettes College, Scotland A full-back Mark Appleson and Edinburgh lock Isak van der Westhuizen coach Edinburgh Academy, Rob Moffat and Roddy Deans crack the whip at Merchiston Castle, one-time Scotland A stand-off Mark McKenzie is doing great things at St Aloysius, helped by former Scotland centre Andy Henderson, while Ally Donaldson has just added Ben Cairns to the already impressive coaching roster at George Watson’s. In the last few years a vast reservoir of coaching talent has been sucked up by the private schools because they can afford it (or more accurately because they can’t afford not to have it) and all these coaches want an integrated and competitive fixture list. They recognise the need for change so it should not be beyond Johnson’s ability to push open a door that is already ajar.

Naturally the SRU will continue its evangelical work within the state sector but that necessity should not prevent them from fully exploiting all the talent in the private sector: it is what drives the excellence in Irish schools rugby that one coach dubbed “professional, in all but name”.

Beyond the immediate needs of competition at youth level, Johnson needs to address a couple of other issues, the first being the structure of the Premiership and whether they should resort to an eight-team, semi-professional superleague – although that decision will ultimately lie with the clubs themselves. Secondly, he needs to help smooth the transition from youth to adult rugby when so many young players chuck in the towel. Encouraging the Premier Clubs to run 
under-20 teams would help, and they could play in tandem with the senior sides, so limiting any additional transport costs.

Meanwhile, the policy of pumping money into the pro-teams has yet to pay dividends for Edinburgh but if coach Alan Solomons is a decent judge of horse flesh then the capital club may be the surprise package in Europe’s second-tier tournament next season. Glasgow remain on course for a place in Europe’s main competition and the Rabo play-offs, although a home tie looks beyond them. They will likely travel to Limerick or Dublin.

If Scotland use last weekend as the spur to make the necessary changes the gloom currently hanging over rugby will lift pretty quickly. One day a journalist might be able to write that the Scots eventually got to grips with professionalism in 2014 after suffering all manner of indignities in Cardiff. Hell, we might even be grateful to the Welsh.

Scratch wrote:When does Cotter come in…is his first salvo going to be a summer tour to SA?  

That said siege mentality may work well for the Scots, they have done okay on tours before, better than at home even

If Clermont get to the Top 14 final he'll pretty much just arrive as we're boarding the plane off on the summer tour.

Very good and very frank interview with Dave Denton in the Scotsman too.

THe last guy I expect to be meeting this week is a member of the Scotland rugby team. After the Six Nations just ended, featuring the 50-point thumping by Wales, the zero-rated humiliation by England and much wailing and gnashing of gumshields over the state of the game, I expected them all to have turned off their phones and dived for cover. Maybe if you’re David Denton, though, you think: what’s the point in hiding?

There’s his unmissable build. Although full-time training over here helped fill out the teenager who first pitched up five years ago, he is, in essence, 6ft 5ins of prime Zimbabwean beef. When he stands in the coffee shop doorway he blots out the afternoon sun. When he picks up his cup in his big paw it looks like it belongs in a doll’s house.

There’s his unmissable hair. A haystack sketched by a hyperactive six-year-old which got him mistaken for Simon Taylor and Richie Gray, although the heavy ripcurl fringe was his own creation. Then he got it cut and the confusion with other rugby players stopped. “Now I get called Claire Balding,” he laughs. “Have I ever met her? No. So you have to wonder: if we’ve never been seen in the same room together, are we one and the same person?”

And then there’s his habit of nodding hello to passers-by. “Is this an African thing? No, I think it might just be Zimbabwean. The first few times here, when people looked at me funny, I did think: ‘What an unfriendly place.’ But I don’t think that any more.”

In this villagey part of the capital – Stockbridge, home of Edinburgh Accies, where he began his rocketing rise to full honours – the 24-year-old back row must be well known by now. Possibly some of the locals have started to nod back. And maybe those who follow rugby will be thinking, well, it was a completely forgettable Six Nations in many ways but Dents did all right.

Over cappuccinos, I show him the end-of-championship reports, including the rugby writers’ picks for their XV-of-the-tournament. Denton is the only Scot to get anywhere near. Yesterday, he was named sixth in the official poll for player of the tournament. “That’s very kind of them,” he says, “but I can’t feel good about myself when the Six Nations has been such a massive disappointment for the team.” He’s happy to provide his own honest assessment, game-by-game.

“It was a complete rollercoaster. After the first game against Ireland we didn’t feel that bad. Maybe it looked different from the outside but we thought we’d played some pretty decent rugby. We were unlucky with a few calls and the bounce of the ball didn’t favour us. We came out of that one with a bit of positivity.

“But the England game was devastating. I can’t tell you what it feels like to play in a Scotland-England match, how excited you get before it, the incredible atmosphere. Everything’s amplified against England; so many more people watch that one. And to know you’ve disappointed all of them – it’s really tough to handle. We were never in that one, never looked like scoring, never threatened their line. But credit to England: they got right in our faces.”

If anyone in dark blue got close to English faces that gruesome night, though, it was surely Denton. There was consternation when he was hooked in the second half and some measured disappointment from the player afterwards. He says a bit more today: “I was really annoyed. I spoke to Jonno [head coach Scott Johnson] and he said it was tactical, that Alex Dunbar had been carded and they needed a back row who could drop into the backs should we have lost him. I was gutted.”

So how did he feel when he was dropped for Italy? “I was devastated. It must have been a good three or four days of meetings with the coaches before I got their reasoning clear in my head. Jonno said there were areas of my game that needed work and that, against the Italians, he wanted to move the ball more. I felt hard done by because I still thought I’d been playing well.

“That was maybe my immature side. Eventually you realise you just have to accept these decisions. The back row is an area where the coaches have the depth to change things around and they’re trying to build a base for the World Cup. I sulked but I knew that if I was going to win my place back I couldn’t be anything less than my best coming off the bench.” Denton got on in Rome and contributed to our only win. “Alan Solomons [his head coach at Edinburgh] gave me good advice: ‘Don’t try to be a world-beater. Don’t try and fit 80 minutes into your 20. You’ll only give away penalties.’ I think I did my bit in the lead-up to the penalties we got and Duncy’s [Duncan Weir’s] drop-goal.”

He then has cause to use the word “devastating” again – to describe the team’s feelings after the late, narrow defeat by France. “It was so tough. We were in complete control. Even when France got that intercept and led by a couple of points, I wasn’t worried because we had a stranglehold. Maybe we showed naivety not closing up the game but we were still unlucky. A win against France would have been incredible and we deserved it.”

Denton may be Zimbabwean by birth but when he says “we” he means us and feels it. This isn’t a story of a talented lad from an outdoorsy corner of the world where they breed ’em big being harried by crack rugby genealogists who have proof of a smidgin of tartan blood in one hand and a kilt in the other. He sought out Scotland, land of his forefathers. Dad Tim is pure Zimbabwean but his mum Joy is Scottish and, as soon as he showed prowess with the oval ball, dreamed of him running out at Murrayfield. “She was born in Glasgow, raised in Troon and educated at Heriot-Watt University. She met dad at a wedding of all things, while he was studying agriculture, and they married and moved first to Zambia, which was quite a culture shock for her. It was only the year before last when she could say she’d lived longer in Africa than Scotland. The old country is very dear to my mum and, when I was growing up thousands of miles away, she never allowed me to forget that I’m half-Scottish.

“This’ll sound really clichéd but right from when I was a little kid she sang those Scottish songs to me, about bonnie Loch Lomond and stuff. Even before I started playing rugby over here, my dad kind of adopted Scotland and I’ve always found his attitude interesting. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country and his life has always been on its farms. But his own father died when he was nine so he had to grow up pretty quickly. He joined the army to pay his way through college. With that kind of history, it says something about him that he was prepared to buy into the Scottish heritage. I’ve got a massive respect for the guy.”

Possibly remembering the old man’s steep learning curve, Denton, on arrival here, quickly banished any thoughts of homesickness as he wrestled with the rotten weather, the lack of nodding on the street, “the fact that every Scotsman sounded like Shrek and many were unintelligible”, the slanting pitches, the frozen mud and the men vs boys concept of 2nd XVs rugby, with him at that stage very much the skinny 18-year-old.

Then there was the almost complete absence of lions and elephants. “You guys don’t go around reciting Burns all the time, I know that now, but almost every weekend it’s true that a Zimbabwean goes on safari. From the age of two that was what I did every holiday and, in Zimbabwe, the parks are really wild with no fences. You sleep in tents and there are lions and crocodiles running around all the time. But here’s a funny thing: I didn’t think I’d like Edinburgh Zoo but I do. I go all the time. It’s got animals I never saw in Zimbabwe, like penguins. I’m kind of obsessed by it.”

Denton turned up at Accies after an old uni friend of his mum’s, Jeremy Richardson, who got one Scotland cap, put in a word. Firing off a showreel of his schoolboy exploits to scores of clubs had failed to do the trick, although, unsurprisingly, some of those who didn’t even bother to view it are showing keen interest in him now. “The tape went everywhere but the hope was always that I might eventually play for Scotland,” he stresses.

But, be honest, how does he feel now, having committed to the cause? Has he had his credentials and intentions questioned? And, with Scotland patently struggling, does he wish he hadn’t bothered? He smiles and shakes his head. “I don’t qualify to play for South Africa but in any case never wanted to be a Springbok. Coming from Zimbabwe there’s no resentment towards South Africa but no particular loyalty either. Zimbabwe itself? Well, they could actually muster a pretty good team at the moment. A friend from home just emailed me a XV which includes ‘Beast’ [Tendai Mtawarira], Brian Mujati, David Pocock, Dave Ewers who plays for Exeter, the United States winger Takudzwa Ngwenya and myself. But, no, it was always going to be Scotland for me.”

Obviously, rugby nations fielding players with perfectly valid and sometimes stronger allegiances to other countries continues to be controversial. Denton points to New Zealand doing it, England too. “There has to be the full buy-in. We can’t have guys who are only here because they’re unable to get international rugby elsewhere. I’d like to think that everyone I’ve played with knows how passionate I am about Scotland.”

Which is why the criticism of the Six Nations performances hurt him as much as anyone, not that it wasn’t deserved. “We got absolutely shafted after the England game. We got it tight, as we should have done.” Some observers, English ones, suggested Scotland were risking relegation to a – currently nonexistent – division below the Six Nations but Denton isn’t having that. “Would these guys have said the same to France who finished bottom of the Six Nations the year after they’d played in the World Cup final? Look how close the competition was this year. People forget how tough it is.

“And my time here has been tough, for sure. My first Six Nations was a whitewash. There was the loss to Tonga. I’ve not won a lot with Scotland and I can feel the pressure because we’re a proud nation. But I’m committed to the team and I’ve no regrets about coming, none at all.”

It was heartening for the current crop, he says, to have the 1984 Grand Slam heroes visit training during the tournament. “The old boys told us how Scotland struggled for years before the success. They had great times and we’re desperate to repeat them.”

An intelligent man, Denton is aware this is fine talk, not much more. He maintains there were some positives from the Six Nations, if you wanted to look, and he’s clinging on to them. “We scored tries against France, something we’ve been criticised for not doing, and they were great ones. The squad has certainly been expanded. When I made my debut, I was the 1023rd new cap and Dougie Fife against Wales was the 1052nd. But that expansion is now over and I think the public will be glad. Jonno has said he’s got the players he wants and now he’s becoming director of rugby which, as someone always looking at the bigger picture, is a job he’ll do very well.

“Vern Cotter is coming in [as head coach] and I’m looking forward to working with him. He seems to believe in simplicity and I like that. Rugby is a simple game which is often over-complicated.”

But equally, Denton knows that, when it comes to big pictures, forward planning and a procession of new hopefuls in freshly-pressed strips, Scotland must eventually start delivering. “We have the potential and it’s time we took that next step. Everyone – supporters and players – is getting very tired of waiting. It’s got to come in the next season or two.”

We step outside into the sunshine and, as we walk to the Accies ground for the photographs, he talks about his girlfriend, Shelley Kent, who he’s known since school and how glad he’s been to have her around after those thumping defeats. He talks about his younger brother Jack, currently at uni, but a player too, more skilful than himself having turned out for the Accies already and “the most passionate rugby man I know”. Coming from Denton, that’s saying something.

He points up towards his first Edinburgh flat where he lived on “pasta and red sauce” because he didn’t know how to cook. Close by is the church where his parents were married and farther on Ravelston Dykes, high above Murrayfield, where his great-grandparents lived. He’s recently bought his own flat, still close by, and even though he fantasises about a big Zimbabwean yard with a pro-barbecue set-up, this is his home for now and playing for Scotland is his project and his dream.

“You haven’t asked me about the World Cup,” he says. Go on then. “Well, if we get through the pools anything can happen. We’re more than capable of still being in the game after 60 minutes against any team. You know, it would be very easy for me to say we’re going to win the thing…"

I think the tour games ( Barring perhaps SA) should be about the future. A number of high profile players should not go. Ford, Laidlaw, Jackson, Murray, Hamilton, Stockosh. Some to get their heads straight, some simply need a break and will come back

Kelly Brown as captain and 6.

This should be an opportunity for the young guys to step up. Ikcle Jonny, Swinson etc

Cussitor and Weir as first choice halfbacks, youngsters as backup. Hart? Heathcote?

The SA game might be rather different needing damage limitation and a different selection policy.

It'll come as no surprise that I completely disagree with you TJ. This summer tour should be 100% about the World Cup, and nothing else.

If it is deemed necessary to rest players in order for them to be fresh for the World Cup, then fine, but this tour should be about maximising our chance for the World Cup. Let "the future" (whatever that means and whenever that is) take care of itself.

Unless there's a concern over fatigue, I certainly don't see the point in omitting players who will form a key component of the WC squad. It's not as if we are a well oiled machine with only fine tinkering around the edges required. We were fundamentally useless during the 6 Nations, and the key players need to focus and get it right on the pitch.

I'm with FES on this - Cotter only has 12 games before the world cup - we need to play our strongest team possible in each and every one.

Barring fatigue...

Of those 12 games the three on this "tour" are the only games with lower pressure pretty much. Its not so much play an experimental team - its let the youngsters sit on the bench. Dougie Fife not Shlong for example

Some senior players simply should not play these games. Laidlaw - not been at his best, changing clubs, he needs to come back refreshed next season. Jackson - no point him sitting on the bench these games. We know who he is, he needs to sort a club for next year. Ford - needs to go away and get his head right - although I could be persuaded going on the tour under Cotter might be what is needed. Strokosh might well need a break We don't need Shlong even if he is fit - plenty of young backs raring to go. And the Vernonator.   

What Cotter needs to have in mind for the World Cup is the 23 players who will face South Africa and Samoa, and getting those 23 players into as good a shape and confidence as he possibly can.

Both Samoa and South Africa are hugely physical sides, so I suspect for players like MacArthur and Fusaro, that will likely count against them (rightly or wrongly).

At the present time I see that 23 as follows:

1.Grant 2.Ford 3.Murray 4.R Gray 5.Hamilton 6.Brown(c) 7.Rennie 8.Denton 9.Cusiter 10.Weir 11.Visser 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.Maitland 15.Hogg

16.Cross 17.Lawson 18.Dickinson 19.Swinson 20.Beattie 21.Laidlaw 22.Jackson 23.Evans

I dearly hope that next season, in club jerseys, we see Tonks, Heathcote and Horne given time at 10, Hart and Kennedy getting time at 9, Fraser Brown and Stuart McInally given time at 2, Bennett given time at 13 and J Gray and Gilchrist pushing on to oust Hamilton from the side. I also think Nel and Strauss becoming SQ will both have a strong shout at pushing into the 23.

But, those moving parts during the course of next season aside, I think the 23 above should come pretty close to being the core of Vern Cotter's World Cup campaign, and as such, the summer tour should focus on those players and getting them up to speed as quickly as possible.

funnyExiledScot wrote:It'll come as no surprise that I completely disagree with you TJ. This summer tour should be 100% about the World Cup, and nothing else.

If it is deemed necessary to rest players in order for them to be fresh for the World Cup, then fine, but this tour should be about maximising our chance for the World Cup. Let "the future" (whatever that means and whenever that is) take care of itself.

Unless there's a concern over fatigue, I certainly don't see the point in omitting players who will form a key component of the WC squad. It's not as if we are a well oiled machine with only fine tinkering around the edges required. We were fundamentally useless during the 6 Nations, and the key players need to focus and get it right on the pitch.

Agreed, A year and a bit out from the world cup you want to be putting out your strongest XV as much as possible. If you look at teams who perform well at world cups it is normally teams who are a settled starting line up.
You want the best team starting as much as possible, getting to know each other on the pitch so they start to know their little traits instinctively.
I doubt we will win the world cup but certainly putting out our strongest team as much as possible and having cotter as head coach I think Scotland will improve a huge amount between now and the world cup.